Ssalamu 'lekum!
(This is a picture of a posh hotel in the medina of Tetouan- very historic and exotic looking)
Some interesting musical developments have arisen, thanks to my connection with Dar Loughat, the language school I'm attending.
For one, my host family brother, Bilal and the other exchange student, Phillip and I have been "jamming" here and there, singing songs from Tracy Chapman to Grease. Bilal invited one of his friends along the other night (Zachariah) and somehow, Phillip suggested we should all sing for the school and our classmates. I didn't really take it all seriously but Bilal actually talked to the school founder and yesterday, when he passed out the schedule for the week, there it was in writing: Tamara, Bilal, Phillip and Zachariah will perform for the entire school and staff. Oh god.
Since I don't really play guitar and that's all those three play, I've been nominated as the singer. Oh god (again). So our little four-some will be performing Hit the Road Jack (with me and Phillip being the couple), Tracy Chapman's Give Me One Reason and You're the One that I Want from Grease, again with Phillip as Danny and me as Sandy. Good lord. I can't believe I've been suckered into singing.
But on a better note, the same school founder, Zaya, had asked me last week what my interests are and what sort of activities I might like to do so I mentioned that I was incredibly fascinated with the Gnawa music of Morocco. To my surprise and delight, he has arranged a Gnawa music concert to be held at the school on Wednesday- wow! Zayd is a really friendly fellow and so generous and accommodating. Any time a student expresses interest in something, he does his best to make it a reality. For instance, someone last week asked about hammams so we're going to one tomorrow night.
I found out yesterday that for at least this first week, my classes are one-on-one; just me and my teacher, Mohammed Drida. He's a fabulous teacher but all of my lessons are in Spanish... so here I am struggling to use my rusty Spanish to learn Arabic. My brain hurt by the end of two hours of one-on-one yesterday. Next week (I think I understood correctly...) more students are coming who want to learn Darija and that will take some pressure off of me. Other than struggling with the Spanish in order to ask questions about Arabic, I love everything about the school, the teachers and staff. They are all wonderful and I'm meeting so many interesting people...
more later... off to go study (ka nqra in Darija)!
m'a ssalama!
